How to Keep an Alien

Last updated

How to Keep an Alien is a one-person show written and performed by Irish playwright Sonya Kelly, supported in the original run by stage manager Justin Murphy, and directed by Gina Moxley. The show chronicles Kelly's attraction to and then relationship with her stage manager at the time, the Australian national Kate Ferris, and fight to keep her in the country. [1] It premiered in Dublin in 2013, and since has been on several national and international tours, including the Edinburgh Fringe, [2] [3] New York, and Finland, and is being performed in several festivals in New Zealand in 2017. [4] [5] [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edinburgh Festival Fringe</span> Arts festival

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 different shows in 322 venues. Established in 1947 as an alternative to the Edinburgh International Festival, it takes place in Edinburgh every August. The Edinburgh Festival Fringe has become a world-leading celebration of arts and culture, surpassed only by the Olympics and the World Cup in terms of global ticketed events. As an event it "has done more to place Edinburgh in the forefront of world cities than anything else" according to historian and former chairman of the board, Michael Dale.

Barry Jones and Stuart MacLeod are a duo of Scottish BAFTA-nominated magicians and comedians whose work has been seen on television and on stage around the world. The double act are known for their comically dark performing style, for taking as inspiration the accounts of Biblical miracles and faking paranormal phenomena to form the basis for some of their illusions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maeve Higgins</span> Irish comedian

Maeve Anna Higgins is a comedian from Cobh, County Cork, Ireland and is based in New York. She was a principal actor and writer of the RTÉ television production Naked Camera, as well as for her own show Maeve Higgins' Fancy Vittles. Her book of essays We Have A Good Time, Don't We? was published by Hachette in 2012. She wrote for The Irish Times and produces radio documentaries. She previously appeared on The Ray D'Arcy Show on Today FM. She is a regular panelist on the NPR radio show Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! Higgins appeared in her first starring film role in the 2019 Irish comedy Extra Ordinary.

Peter "Pete" Firman is an English magician, comedian and television presenter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jessie Cave</span> British actress (born 1987)

Jessica Alice Cave Lloyd is an English actress, comedian and cartoonist, known for her role as Lavender Brown in the Harry Potter film series and for her shows in London and at the Edinburgh Fringe. She has also published a book of cartoon doodles called Love Sick, some of the designs in which have appeared on greeting cards. A comedic play based on her life and relationships, Sunrise, was first performed in 2019. Cave's first novel, Sunset, was published in 2021.

The Alleycats are a Scottish collegiate a cappella group, hailing from the University of St Andrews, Scotland. The group was established in 2001. Since then, they have released nine albums, performing across the UK.

Bryony Kimmings is a British live artist based in London and Cambridgeshire. She is an associate artist of the Soho Theatre, and, in 2016, was commissioned to write The Pacifist's Guide to the War on Cancer for Complicite Associates.

Deborah Pearson is a British, Hungarian and Canadian live artist, playwright, director, performer and curator based in London, U.K. and born in Toronto, Canada. She holds a practice-based PhD in narrative in contemporary performance from Royal Holloway, University of London, where she was a Reid Scholar. Her dissertation was supervised by playwright Dan Rebellato.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piff the Magic Dragon</span> British magician and comedian

John van der Put is a magician and comedian from the United Kingdom who performs under the stage name Piff the Magic Dragon. A winner of multiple awards from British magic societies, he toured as a supporting act for Mumford and Sons and has appeared on Penn & Teller: Fool Us and America's Got Talent. In June 2019, van der Put was named one of Variety's 10 Comics to Watch for 2019. Van der Put lives in Las Vegas and has a residency at The Flamingo.

Bob Slayer is an Edinburgh Comedy Award winning comedian, musician and promoter. He has been part of a new economic model for venues at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe which has made the event fairer and more affordable for performers and audiences. Acts that have performed at his venues have won and been nominated for a number of prestigious awards.

Fourth Monkey Actor Training Company is both a repertory theatre company, and an actor training provider and drama school for young actors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brighton Open Air Theatre</span>

Brighton Open Air Theatre, also known as B•O•A•T, is a British theatre built in Dyke Road Park, Brighton, which opened on 9 May 2015. It has been paid for not by corporate funding or public grants, but by private donations. The theatre is the legacy of the Brighton showman and construction manager, Adrian Bunting, who died of pancreatic cancer, aged 47, in May 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mischief Theatre</span> British theatre company

Mischief Theatre is a British theatre company founded in 2008 by a group of students from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in West London, and directed by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields. The group originally began by doing improvised comedy shows, but by 2012 they expanded into comedic theatrical performances that includes choreographed routines, jokes, and stunts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colin Cloud</span> Scottish stage mentalist (born 1987)

Colin McLeod, known professionally as Colin Cloud, is a British stage mentalist from Harthill, Scotland, who describes himself as The Real Life Sherlock Holmes. In 2017 he appeared as a semi-finalist on season 12 of America's Got Talent.

<i>Love Birds</i> (musical)

Love Birds is an original musical with book, music and lyrics by Robert J. Sherman. The musical officially premiered at the 2015 Edinburgh Fringe Festival at The Pleasance on August 7, 2015. The production was directed and choreographed by Stewart Nicholls. Prior to the Edinburgh run, there were two previews held in London at the Lost Theatre on July 28 and 29. The Original Edinburgh Cast Recording was recorded on July 30 and mixed and mastered on July 31 and August 3 and was first released by SimG Records on August 12 at the Edinburgh Festival. Two Edinburgh previews took place on August 5 and 6 with Press Night taking place on August 8. The final festival performance took place on August 31. The show starred Ruth Betteridge, Greg Castiglioni, John Guerrasio, George Knapper, Jonny Purchase, Joanna Sawyer, Anna Stolli, Rafe Watts and Ryan Willis. In its end of the year round-up of regional British fringe musical theatre, Musical Theatre Review hailed Love Birds: "a triumph of whimsy, a children’s story written with adult sensibilities and featuring a cracking score that celebrated the lost era of vaudeville. Blessed with an equally strong design from Gabriella Slade and some marvellously sensitive performances, Love Birds was probably the most accomplished piece of musical theatre to arise from the many delights at this year’s festival."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nathan Cassidy</span> British comedian and writer

Nathan Cassidy is a British comedian and podcaster. In 2021, he was nominated for an Off West End Stage Award for his show 'Bumblebee' along with nominations for Best Comedy Show at the Greater Manchester Fringe and Buxton Fringe. 'Bumblebee' was released as an Amazon Prime Special in 2022. In 2022 he was nominated for Best Standup at the Buxton Fringe for his show 'Hot Tub God' and this show along with his show 'Observational' were awarded with the Best Standup Award at the Brighton Fringe 2022. For his 2023 shows 'Amnesia' and 'Fifty' he was awarded with the Best Standup Award at the Brighton Fringe 2023. He was previously nominated for Best Show at the Leicester Comedy Festival 2020 for his show 'Observational'. This show was widely reported in the press as the only live show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2020. The show was given four stars by The Times which reviewed it as 'The best show at the Fringe. A classic, structured, rollercoaster Fringe hour...star-in-waiting...he is untouchable.' Previously he was nominated for a Malcolm Hardee Award in 2012, won best solo comedy show on the Buxton Fringe in 2014, and was nominated for the same award in 2015, 2016, 2017 2019, and 2021. He has also won the Sir Michael Caine Award for new writing in theatre. He also presents the podcast Psycomedy about the Psychology of stand-up comedy and the daily comedy/piano podcast Daily Notes.

Benjamin Hart is an English magician. In 2007, he was awarded the "Young Magician of the Year" award by The Magic Circle. Hart has worked on British television and is an inventor and designer of magic tricks and stage illusions. In 2014, he starred in Killer Magic on BBC Three. Hart was a finalist on Britain's Got Talent in 2019.

Sonya Kelly is an Irish playwright and screenwriter.

Demi Lardner is an Australian absurdist comedian based in Sydney. In 2013, she won Raw Comedy in Melbourne and went on to win So You Think You're Funny? in Edinburgh for her comedy set. She regularly streams on Twitch, and co-hosts the podcast bigsofttitty.png with Tom Walker.

Gina Moxley is an Irish playwright, director and actress. She is a member of Aosdána, an elite Irish association of artists.

References

  1. "How to Keep an Alien : A Story about Falling in Love and Proving It to the Government". Bloomsbury . Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  2. "Edinburgh Fringe 2015 review – How To Keep An Alien: as heartwarming as it is funny". Evening Standard. 10 August 2015. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  3. "Edinburgh festival review: How to Keep an Alien – a comedy of love and visas". The Guardian . 9 August 2015. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  4. "How to Keep an Alien". Rough Magic.
  5. "Rough Magic Theatre Company | How to Keep an Alien". www.roughmagic.ie. Archived from the original on 2016-03-26.
  6. "Sonya Kelly". agency.